The cost of seeing those beautiful spacious skies, amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesties is a lot more than it used to be.
Road tripping to spot the fall foliage has gotten pricier as gas prices are surging in nearly every state as the war with Iran continues to boost the cost of oil. And prices are once again making headlines as researcher Dr. Randal S. Olson dropped the “optimal” US road trip.
Originally published back in 2015, the ready-made road trip details the US landmarks vacationers should check out — all in one handy, interactive map. The trip maps out 49 states, driving a whopping 224 hours and 13,949 miles.
Some of the sights on the interactive chart — the Ben & Jerry’s Factory, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the White House and the Alamo.
But what’s really stealing the show — gas prices.
The budget for gas is now roughly $1,000 higher than it was when Dr. Olson first created the original map 11 years ago.
In 2015, the gas budget was $1,300 as gas prices were about $2.37 a gallon, according to AAA.
At Tuesday’s national average of $4.28, according to AAA, Dr. Olson suggested a budget of $2,350.
While gas prices do vary by state, the priciest stretch to fill up in would be California. The researcher’s route spans roughly 860 miles across The Golden State where gas prices are sitting at about $6.14 a gallon.
On the opposite end of the pricing spectrum, North Carolina is the cheapest state — where the average sits at $3.60 a gallon. However, the route along that state is only about 80 miles, while California covers 860 miles.
Other costly states — Montana at roughly 960 miles where gas it at $4.46 per gallon and Texas where the driving hits about 870 miles and gas sits at $3.78.
Dr. Olson also dropped another road trip where brave travelers — with a good amount of PTO — can see every national park in the lower 48. And it’s all designed to be driven in the order that takes the least time behind the wheel.
Road trippers will “ooh” and “aah” at 51 national parks across 48 states. According to Dr. Olson, the trip will span 16,103 miles and 270 hours of driving on the fastest possible loop.
“At 6 hours behind the wheel a day the driving takes about 6.5 weeks,” the map reads.
The longest drive is just over 14 hours where travelers will head through Cuyahoga Valley to Acadia. This route takes you from Ohio — where gas sits at $4 per gallon — to Maine — where gas is $4.34 per gallon.
The shortest trek is Carlsbad Caverns to Guadalupe Mountains coming in at just 44 minutes.
With gas prices at remaining high, the road trip is not completely out of the question. Dr. Olson has added a feature where folks can build their own road trip that is free to use.
Just be sure to check the gas prices in each state on AAA to fill up in the cheapest state.
